Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
639 results(7 / 26)
Does urban agriculture lead to gentrification?
2022Hawes J. K., Gounaridis D., Newell J. P. · Landscape and Urban Planning 225:104447 · United States
Analyzes the link between urban gardens and gentrification in Detroit, finding no clear association but showing gardens cluster in younger, affluent, educated, less-Black neighborhoods—gardening remains unequal.
PolicyCommunityWelfareInside Zambia's 'new normal:' COVID-19 policy responses and implications for peri-urban food security and livelihoods
2022Manda S. · Journal of International Development · Zambia (Chongwe, Lusaka)
This study examines how Zambia's COVID-19 'new normal' policies disrupted peri-urban food production and market access near Lusaka, finding that ~53% of small-scale farmers reported zero agricultural income and that policy responses lacked systematic agricultural support.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityWelfareWho Gardens and How in Urban USA: Informing Social Equity in Urban Agriculture Action Plans
2022Kirti Das, Anu Ramaswami · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · United States
Based on a survey of 6,152 representative urbanites in three US cities, this paper analyzes the demographics of agricultural gardeners and the types of gardening practiced. It finds low engagement in community gardening (~2%) versus household gardening (~27%), that household gardening was dominated by higher-income White males, and that community gardening was more diverse but too low in participation to scale benefits—underscoring the need for data on who gardens to design equitable urban agriculture.
CommunityPolicy"The highest and best use of land in the city": Valuing urban agriculture in Philadelphia and Chicago
2022Domenic Vitiello · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · United States
Using mixed methods, this article traces the evolution of urban agriculture practice, support, and policy in Philadelphia and Chicago since the 1990s, contrasting cities that treat farming and gardening as public goods with those seeking economic and redevelopment gains. It finds that while both cities became prominent urban farming centers, Chicago increasingly treated urban agriculture as a public good whereas its status in Philadelphia remained contested and unstable.
PolicyEconomicsCommunityAttitudes and Perceptions of Community Gardens: Making a Place for Them in Our Neighborhoods
2022Sinan Kordon, Patrick A. Miller, Cermetrius L. Bohannon · Land · United States (Roanoke)
This study used a scene-rating survey in Roanoke, Virginia, to investigate the attitudes and perceptions of four groups (community gardeners, community-and-home gardeners, home gardeners, and non-gardeners) toward community gardens. Analysis identified seven dimensions important to preferences—including gathering/seating, plots with and without boundaries, focal points, garden entrance, untidy space, and composting structures—with significant group differences on all but "gathering and seating," yielding design recommendations to reduce opposition and support long-term garden survival.
CommunityPolicyBlack intimacies with food sovereignty and land in the midst of gentrification in Saint Paul’s historic Rondo
2022Parvathy Binoy · Human Geography · United States (Saint Paul)
Drawing on ethnographic and visual documentation of the Aurora Saint Anthony Peace Garden in Saint Paul's historic Black neighborhood of Rondo, this article argues that the elder-led Urban Farmer Garden Alliance and its community garden sustain an intimacy of Black food sovereignty amid gentrification. It contends the gardens work to restore collective Black connection to land and food disrupted by urban renewal and a lack of affordable food access.
CommunityPolicyGardens in a postsuburb: Community garden governance and ethos in Orange County
2022Eiji Toda, Edward Lowe · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · United States (Orange County, California)
This study reports six case studies of community gardens in southern Orange County, California, asking how garden governance and an overarching garden ethos are elaborated. It finds gardens manifest one of three governance approaches—anarchic, democratic, or corporate—and two value frameworks (a community-oriented ethos and an individualistic ethos), arguing postsuburban gardens may address perceived shortcomings of postsuburban regions.
CommunityPolicyEcosystem services of urban agriculture and prospects for scaling up production: A study of Detroit
2022Joshua Newell, Alec Foster, Mariel Borgman, Sara Meerow · Cities · United States (Detroit)
A study in Detroit's Lower Eastside (~15 sq. miles) examined the spatial extent, characteristics, and residents' perceptions of urban gardens using spatial analysis and interviews. Gardens covered less than 1% of vacant land and were often ephemeral. Primary obstacles to scaling up urban agriculture in Detroit include uncertainty over land tenure, environmental pollutants, potential ecosystem disservices, and a lack of government support and capital investment.
Governance failureCommunityBiodiversityPolicyEconomicsClimate changeHealthOptimizing the co-benefits of food desert and urban heat mitigation through community garden planning
2022Yujia Zhang, Jordan P. Smith, Daoqin Tong, B. L. Turner · Landscape and Urban Planning · United States (Phoenix)
A model was developed to optimize the co-benefits of food desert and urban heat mitigation through community garden planning, applied to over 5,000 vacant parcels in the Phoenix metro-area, USA. The study found that the optimal number and locations of community gardens needed for different mitigation goals can vary significantly. The existing 76 community gardens were mostly clustered around urban cores, leaving two-thirds of the metro-area underserved, but spatially optimized siting could double the co-benefits gained and cover more high-need neighborhoods.
CommunityHealthClimate changePolicyHortas urbanas – História, Classificação, Benefícios e Perspectivas.
2022Marc François Richter, Luiza Vigne Bennedetti, Bruna Raquel Rodrigues Teixeira, Maico Ismael Klein, Angélica Gomes Florczak dos Santos · Confins · Brazil
This study mapped the concepts and benefits of urban gardens globally and in Brazil, presenting the history of urban agriculture and its modalities. A systematic literature review via Portal periódicos da CAPES corroborated various social, environmental, and economic advantages. In recent decades, Brazil has implemented federal, state, and municipal policies to support community garden projects, aiming to reduce poverty and ensure food security.
CommunityHealthEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceSeeds and the city: a review of municipal home food gardening programs in Canada in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
2022Janet Music, Lisa Mullins, Sylvain Charlebois, Charlotte Large, Kydra Mayhew · Humanities and Social Sciences Communications · Canada
This study compared 19 municipal urban home food gardening programs in Canada in 2020, which provided free gardening supplies and instructions. It found a complicated relationship between municipalities, gardening programs, and food security, and determined that gardening somewhat alleviated social and emotional challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, municipalities are limited in their policy capacities to adequately address food insecurity in Canada.
Governance failurePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityHealthCommercial Urban Agriculture in Florida: Needs, Opportunities, and Barriers
2022Catherine Campbell, Jorge Ruiz‐Menjivar, Alia DeLong · HortTechnology · United States (Florida)
This research characterized commercial urban agriculture (CUA) operations in Florida, United States, and explored urban farmers' perceptions of needs, barriers, and opportunities for CUA development. A cluster analysis identified three distinct groups of urban farmers with differing perceptions of barriers, opportunities, and informational needs. The study notes that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture does not report data on CUA operations, limiting knowledge about their status, including barriers to business operations and profitability.
Economic viabilityEconomicsPolicyCommunityIndividuals in Collaborative Governance for Environmental Management
2022Julio C. Zambrano-Gutiérrez, Laura Silvia Valente de Macedo, Marc Eric Barda Picavet, José A. Puppim de Oliveira · Environmental Management · Brazil (Florianópolis)
This study used pattern matching to contrast identity theory with original data from 7 individuals participating in waste management and urban agriculture collaboration in Florianópolis, Brazil. Findings showed that as the collaboration evolved, individual participants in municipal government transitioned between roles, affecting their influence based on "integrator" or "segmenter" styles. The success of the collaboration after institutionalization depended on individual transition style and the power of municipal agents to influence it.
CommunityPolicyCommunityIs a vegetable garden essential? Toronto gardens as culinary infrastructure
2022Sarah Elton, Donald C. Cole · Food Culture & Society · Canada (Toronto)
This paper analyzes mixed methods data from Toronto, Canada, generated pre-pandemic, to understand the role of urban agriculture in gardeners' lives. It found that gardening supported health and wellbeing and provided an important, often culturally significant, food source for participants. The study argues that gardens are essential and should be viewed as part of culinary infrastructure, prompting policy decisions that support nonmarket food sources during crises.
CommunityHealthPolicyFood sovereignty & justicemultifuncionalidad de los huertos urbanos en la Ciudad de México
2022Nehiby Alcántara Nieves, Rosa María Larroa Torres · Espiral estudios sobre Estado y sociedad · Mexico (Mexico City)
This article investigates the functions of urban gardens in Mexico City two years after the implementation of the Food Sustainability System and the Urban Garden Law. A qualitative study found that public officials tend to prioritize the environmental functions of urban gardens, while for users, the sociocultural functions are the most relevant. The research suggests that urban gardens possess environmental, economic, and sociocultural multifunctionality.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsBiodiversitySocial capital in urban agriculture initiatives
2022Luíza Costa Caldas, Tania Pereira Christopoulos · Revista de Gestão · Brazil (São Paulo)
This study investigated urban agriculture in São Paulo, Brazil, from the perspective of social capital, using a literature review and semi-structured interviews with participants in urban agriculture initiatives. It identified sources, effects, and challenges of social capital formation in this context. Findings include that social capital generates human capital, citizenship, engagement, resource access, and information access, but faces challenges related to homophily and the perception of benefits.
CommunityEconomicsPolicyCIDADES PEQUENAS E AGRICULTURA URBANA NO CONTEXTO DA PANDEMIA COVID-19
2022Ana Maria Girotti Sperandio, Bárbara Bonetto, Tailana Fraga Lima, Jussara Conceição Guarnieri · PIXO - Revista de Arquitetura Cidade e Contemporaneidade · Brazil
This descriptive, qualitative, and exploratory study examines urban farming initiatives in small cities during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on Conchal/SP, Brazil, as an example of healthy city practices. The research aims to identify convergences between urban farming and healthy city premises to address the pandemic's consequences and contribute to urban planning in small cities. It suggests that urban farming and the recovery of urban vacant spaces in community projects can be considered for addressing food insecurity exacerbated by the pandemic within urban planning.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityHealthPolicy"What we raise ourselves": Growing food sovereignty in the Mississippi Delta
2022Emily A. Holmes, Mary F. Campbell, Ryan Betz · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States
This study used the concept of food sovereignty to assess the level of local control over food production, distribution, and consumption in the Mississippi Delta. Research involved site visits, participant observation, focus groups, and surveys of communities affiliated with the Delta EATS public school garden program. Findings demonstrated low levels of food sovereignty, though high levels of agency and ingenuity in accessing desired foods were observed.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood educationPolicyUrban Agriculture in Latin America: A Green Culture Beyond Growing and Feeding
2022Fabiana Castellarini · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Latin America
Urban agriculture (UA) in Latin American countries was analyzed using an ecosystem services framework. From plant production, 17 ecosystem services, 6 benefits, 6 assets, and 6 indirect drivers were recognized. Strengths of UA were related to ecosystem services, benefits, and beneficiaries; weaknesses were related to the misuse of inputs, and human and environmental health; and threats were related to regulation, governance, and land tenure issues.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePolicyContradictions in the collective practice of urban agriculture: a Bourdieusian analysis
2022Ana Clara Aparecida Alves de Souza, Fernando Dias Lopes · Cadernos EBAPE BR · Brazil (Porto Alegre)
This article analyzes an urban collective garden, Horta da Formiga, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, through a two-year participatory investigation using Pierre Bourdieu’s framework. The study found that the more protagonists of Horta da Formiga align with capitals considered legitimate by the state, the more they can reconcile contradictions in this field. However, despite individual agency, participants face structured conditions that do not allow for more organic and diverse forms of contradiction reconciliation.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyEconomicsHortas urbanas na promoção da Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional e desenvolvimento sustentável em Salvador, Brasil
2022Manuela Alves da Cunha, Ryzia de Cássia Vieira Cardoso · Ambiente & sociedade · Brazil (Salvador)
A descriptive study collected data from urban garden farmers in Salvador, Brazil, to assess the contribution of urban gardens to food and nutritional security and sustainable development. Urban gardens were shown to provide work and income for families, contributing to food supply and security. Beyond producing fresh vegetables for the local population, the activity also contributes to ecosystem balance and sustainability.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyCommunityClimate changePolitical engagement in urban agriculture: power to act in community gardens of São Paulo
2022André Ruoppolo Biazoti, Marcos Sorrentino · Ambiente & sociedade · Brazil (São Paulo)
This ethnographic study investigated political engagement in community gardens in São Paulo, Brazil, through semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The research found that community gardens foster affections that empower individuals to engage in territorial management, leading to the formation of expanded collectives that establish unique management forms challenging institutional powers.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceThe case of the Hortas Integrated Project Community in the Surroundings of CEASA/PE: A Public policy on Urban Agriculture
2022Cristiane Cruz Barros Cristiane Cruz Barros, Óscar Emerson Zúñiga Mosquera, Luciano Pires de Andrade, Horasa Maria Lima da Silva Andrade · International Journal of Advanced Engineering Research and Science · Brazil (Recife)
This case study examined the Integrated Project of Community Gardens around CEASA/PE in Recife, Brazil, using secondary and primary data from semi-structured interviews. The research analyzed socio-spatial dynamics before and after the project's implementation to identify municipal transformations. It aimed to compare the project's reality with policy forecasts and identify environmental impacts, with initial conclusions presented.
PolicyCommunityClimate changeWhy local is not enough! Constrains for adaptive governance in peri-urban areas. A case study in Mexico City
2022Pablo Torres Lima, Kristen Conway-Gómez, Karla Almanza-Rodríguez · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Mexico (Mexico City)
This study examined local community involvement in governance processes in Milpa Alta, a peri-urban agricultural area of Mexico City, using surveys, interviews, and participatory workshops. It found that Milpa Alta lacks integral adaptive capacity to address urban pressures, environmental deterioration, and agricultural dynamics. Limited participation, low local organizational levels, and distrust of government institutions hinder effective governance, indicating that a "local is not enough" approach is insufficient for adaptive governance in this peri-urban context.
Governance failurePeri-urban agriculturePolicyCommunityUrban hen legislation: Exposing an unexpected public health problem
2022Wanda Martin, Lindsey Wagner, Kerry Marshall · Human Geography · Canada
This qualitative study investigated the controversy surrounding urban hen bylaws in Canadian cities, based on semi-structured interviews with 15 urban residents. The research identified three main areas of struggle: the need for education on urban agriculture, differing values for city life, and tensions between individual rights and the collective good. The findings expose challenges in urban hen legislation.
Governance failurePolicyCommunityHealth